Your state's pack. New issues arrive periodically on Mondays. Bookmark it. I built this for the Indiana T&E solo who knows the Probate Code cold but still loses an afternoon a week tracking the moving FSSA Medicaid pieces.
For licensed attorneys. This pack is general legal information and professional commentary for practicing attorneys — it is not legal advice, does not apply to any specific matter, and creates no attorney-client relationship. Verify every authority against the cited primary source before relying on it with a client. Published by Mike Moss, a Utah-admitted attorney, as an AI-enablement information product; it is not an offer of legal services and is not a representation that the author is admitted to practice in your jurisdiction.
Three developments I think actually matter to an Indiana T&E solo. Each has a read that lands on your practice specifically — and each comes with a reachable citation so you can verify it yourself before you use it with a client.
The recoverable “estate” (IC 12-15-9-0.5) is broader than probate: it captures property passing by joint tenancy, POD/TOD, life estate, trust, and certain annuities.
The reflexive Indiana probate-avoidance move — a TOD deed on the home — does not defeat FSSA recovery. This is the structural fact an Indiana Medicaid plan is built around.
Ind. Code § 12-15-9-0.5 · iga.in.gov; FSSA Medicaid Estate Recovery (in.gov/fssa)
Current law gives FSSA 120 days after death to file against the probate estate (IC 12-15-9); pending 2026 legislation (SB 275) would extend that to roughly nine months.
A longer claim window changes how long an Indiana estate stays exposed and how you advise personal representatives on distribution timing. Confirm enactment before relying on it.
Ind. Code § 12-15-9; Ind. SB 275 (2026) · iga.in.gov
Maximum CSRA is $162,660 (minimum $32,532); the special income standard is $2,982/mo. Indiana applies the federal $752,000 home-equity floor.
Two places this lands: community-spouse protection math and the income cap for institutional eligibility. Flag the 2028 OBBBA $1,000,000 home-equity cap now.
42 U.S.C. § 1396p · CMS 2026 Standards (medicaid.gov)
Decisions from the courts that bind an Indiana practitioner — the Indiana Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana, and the Seventh Circuit — read for what actually changes how you draft, advise, and plan. Trusts and estates broadly, not Medicaid alone: wills and capacity, undue influence, fiduciary duty, trust construction, and estate recovery. One read, the holding, and the official cite.
A stepdaughter who managed her dementia-stricken stepfather’s finances — as attorney-in-fact under a general POA, trustee of his revocable trust, and Social Security representative payee — routed his Social Security, pension, and trust-sale proceeds into her personal accounts. After he died, his estate sued for breach of fiduciary duty. The trial court entered judgment against her, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. On limitations, the two-year breach-of-fiduciary-duty claim belonged to the decedent and, under the continuing-wrong doctrine, accrued no earlier than his death — he never knew of the commingling — so a complaint filed on the second anniversary of death was timely. On the merits, the court applied the common-law presumption of undue influence: where a confidential relationship exists and the dominant party benefits from a transaction, it is presumed the product of undue influence, constructively fraudulent, and void unless the fiduciary proves by clear and unequivocal evidence it was at arm’s length. It rejected the argument that Indiana Code section 30-5-9-2(b) abrogated the presumption — that statute removes it only when the principal takes the action, not the agent, and the presumption independently arose from her actual control of his finances, her payee role, the close family tie, and his post-stroke incapacity.
Three things to carry into your files. One: a fiduciary who transfers a principal’s funds to herself triggers a presumption of undue influence and constructive fraud that voids the transfer unless rebutted by clear and unequivocal proof of an arm’s-length deal — counsel agents to keep separate accounts, contemporaneous authorizations, and a clean paper trail. Two: Indiana Code section 30-5-9-2(b) does not shelter an agent’s self-transfers; it lifts the presumption only for transactions the principal affirmatively made, and the presumption can arise from a confidential relationship independent of the POA (actual control of finances, SSA payee status, family ties, the principal’s incapacity). Three: a breach-of-fiduciary-duty claim is the decedent’s and, via the continuing-wrong doctrine, can accrue at death when an incapacitated principal never learned of the commingling — estates can reach years-old transfers if they file within two years of death.
Woodson v. Randall, No. 25A-PL-779 (Ind. Ct. App. Jan. 27, 2026) · official opinion — courts.in.gov
This week in Indiana for the T&E solo with Medicaid-planning clients: what the Indiana State Bar Association, the county probate courts, and FSSA put in front of you.
The ISBA CLE calendar, the Probate, Trust & Real Property Section, and the FSSA estate-recovery updates all publish on different schedules. This is that sift, already done, with the link on each item.